2023-12-03 16:08:22 ¶ ●

Hannibal manipulates Will in the way that he actively corners Will into a state of powerlessness, leading Will to make extreme choices which Hannibal anticipates but cannot guarantee. This, I think, is the essence of their dynamic s1b through s2a.

The real kicker of these interactions, for me, is that Will chooses to kill Hannibal all the while wanting to believe that he has no other choice. But Will does have a choice. He has two: 1. To kill Hannibal, and, 2. Don’t kill Hannibal.

Will is the kind of person who, when pushed, turns to murder as a solution. This isn’t what conventional morality convinces most people to do. Most of us, unless attacked immediately and physically, wouldn’t choose to kill someone. Will does. This makes Hannibal giddy. And Will has to reconcile with the fact that, yes, he is this kind of person.

A major motivator for Will Graham is anger. Many of his more reckless actions are led by fury and disgust. I think his anger towards Hannibal saves him from agony in s2b as he attempts to kill Ingram and kills Randall Tier, but as he mellows out gradually in the company of Hannibal, we can see there is something solemn about him. He is lost and confused. He settles uncomfortably in his own skin when he goes to Lithuania. There is a spark of life within him when he tries to kill Hannibal in Florence, mixed with anger at Bedelia and a heavy sense of “duty”.

Then anger once again when he hunts and kills Dolarhyde with Hannibal. For those final few seconds, he is relaxed. It totally makes sense that he’d have been out of his fucking mind in s4. Gah. I wish we could see what happens to him!